The Strategist
by Coccio
Summary: SessKag This a Kagome AU. She is a deserter in a modern world. Escaping from the soldiers, she finds herself in Sengoku Jidai. Her adventure begins…
1. The Last Combatant

**The Strategist, the Leader, the Infiltrator, and the Suicide **

Chapter 1: The Last Combatant

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

It was a cold night. She shivered as she helped him climbing out of the well. The first thing she saw was that the combatants weren't there anymore. She couldn't trace them anywhere. She then noticed that there was something wrong about this place. The spot, where there used to be a shrine, was vacant, and the well house that used to house the well was not apparent. There was nothing to indicate that there had been a house, a shrine and a well house. There were suddenly trees all over the area, and she recognized that the immense tree was the only thing that was identical with the former vicinity.

"Where are we?" the man beside her asked.

"I don't know; although, I would guess that the well was a passage through another dimension."

The man looked at her quizzically. "You've been reading too many comics, _again_."

"I was not!" she sputtered, "Can you explain to me how the house, the shrine and the well house disappeared!? They were here when we got here. I mean before we hid in the well."

"We did not. You slipped, and I simply followed you"

"Whatever. Geez, so much for a change of plan. Well, at least, they're not here anymore."

"I'll go and search the surrounding. You'll wait here"

"No way, I'm coming with you. There is no chance I'm going to let myself abducted by some aliens."

He rolled his eyes. "Come on."

((((O))))

"There's a village there." He pointed to an archaic-looking area with small shacks around the vicinity.

Her eyes widened. "See!? I told you this is another dimension! Look at this place, where are the streetlamps? No cars! No road! No houses! Nothing!" she hissed.

"But there's smoke coming out from the huts. This village is inhabited."

"By aliens!"

He rolled his eyes again. "Really, what if we found-"

"Humans, state your purpose for trespassing!" A male-looking being with white hair, fangs, amber eyes, and small jutted dog ears, looking cross, appeared out of nowhere.

The girl gawked at him bewilderedly. Her finger pointed to the hanyou as she stammered, "See!? See!?"

The man turned his attention to her, trying to calm her with his warm gaze. "He's a demon, or maybe half-demon," he stated tranquilly.

"Yeah. Sure. Of course. Kazuhiko!" She poked him. "We do not have demons. When there actually are some, then they won't need monsters like us."

"Enough of this, humans! And you, wench! Stop gawking and don't point your finger at me!"

"He's right, you know, Kagome. Don't point your finger at him. It'll bring him bad luck."

"Tsk… It looks like he already got it anyway." She pointed to his ears.

"Why, you, wench —"

A girl dressed in tight black suit with shoulder-and-elbows armors emerged from the hut. "Inuyasha, what's going on out here?"

"It's alright, Sango. I got everything under controls. They're just some weird trespassers."

"Weird!? Why, you little mutt-freak!"

"Kagome." Her companion passed her an admonishing glance. "Excuse me, please, but, may I ask in which period we are now?"

The taijiya answered him, intrigued by their clothing and appearance, "In Muromachi period, of course, but this is for Japanese. For foreigners, it might be different." Eyeing them 'Yepp, definitely foreigner overseas; their Japanese is a bit strange too.'

The girl, named Kagome, turned to the man. "Sengoku Jidai!? No way!"

"The way I see it, it probably is true, and you were kinda right anyway." She grinned, and he rolled his eyes once more. "I mean _part of it_, or do you see here any alien?" She threw a glance to the hanyou. Once again the man, called Kazuhiko, contemplated of doing the eye-rolling while Inuyasha was twitching, taking it as much as he could.

A man, in a monk robe, carrying a staff, emerged from the hut, looking confused. "Do we have visitors, Inuyasha?"

"More like intruders! And one very noisy at that!"

"Inuyasha, please don't be rude. You're in a presence of beautiful ladies." He paused, looking at both strangers taxingly. His eyes gazed lingeringly at Kagome, and his thought scattered for a moment before he fell into a suave mode. "If I may introduce myself, my name is Miroku. As you can see, I'm a monk, and as for my beautiful companion here, her name is Sango. She is a demon exterminator. The half demon here is Inuyasha, the protector of this village."

"I'm sorry; we didn't mean to intrude. We were trying to acquire information because we seemed to be lost literally in epoch. One moment we were in Tokyo, I mean future Edo in the twenty-first century, and here we are in Sengoku Jidai only after one jump through the well."

"One slip," Kazuhiko corrected as Kagome sighed, and then the realization struck her hard.

"Kazuhiko!" She gasped, "He's a hanyou!"

He nodded at her. "Maybe youkai truly used to exist."

Amidst the commotion, they missed the slithering sound coming at them on full speed until the creature itself made its appearance known.

"Give me the Shikon no Tama! The jewel, I can feel its power radiating from you! Give it to me!" Out of nowhere came a Centipede demon and lunged at Kagome.

"What?! Aaahhh!" The monster bit her waist, and a pink jewel stone revealed itself out of her body.

"Kagome!" Kazuhiko roared, but then the girl stood up straight, holding her waist, as a determined look set on her face, biting her lips to contain her pain. "It's okay, Kazuhiko," she calmed him down.

The three friends looked astonished for a moment. They would've never thought that a stranger would be the holder of the jewel. Could this girl who came from the future be the reincarnation of Kikyou?

"What are you doing, wench!? Are you going to let that centipede get away!? It has the jewel! Retrieve it back!" Inuyasha flinched when he saw her eyes stared at him coldly.

"Don't think you can give me orders, bastard!" She charged toward the centipede drawing out her shining katana and slashed it with a vast swiftness, unnatural for a normal human or for a normal fighter to be exact. The girl was indeed powerful, but what had surprised them was that she was able to suppress the aura of her ki, which made her more dangerous than it seemed. Her battle stance, before and after the strike, was elegant and beautiful. As she completed her charge, her hair flew all over the place struck by the gust of the battle. Inuyasha, Miroku, and Sango gaped at her, stunned at her supreme ability.

"Beautiful…" Inuyasha caught himself and clamped his mouth. 'Shit! Shit! SHIT! Did I just whisper that!? Please, don't let anyone hear me!' Apparently nobody heard him. They were too amazed watching the girl except for one who now turned his blazing eyes at him. Once again Inuyasha felt like flinching. 'These humans are probably weirder than I thought.'

She picked the jewel up from the ground. It flickered brightly upon the palm of her hand, and then suddenly a crow demon snapped the jewel away from her, breaking her out of her reverie.

"Damn! Can't you guys stop coming out of nowhere! This is really tiring!"

"It's okay Kagome. I'll get that."

"No! Stay where you are, Kazuhiko!" Her answer surprised the three companions, and they were even more surprised when they saw that the giant man consented.

"Shit! Can't fly —," frustrated, she cursed silently.

"Stupid wench! Jump on my back!" Suddenly the half demon was on her side, squatting down to let her climb on his back. At first dumbfounded trying to understand the purpose of his action, she then reluctantly assented, but when he leaped high into the air, piggybacking her, Kagome could only wonder at the half demon ability. 'Woo… this is fun…' She thought.

'She feels so good, I can smell her excitement.' Inuyasha shook off his thoughts. 'What am I doing!? All the while that demon is getting more powerful. Maybe if she is what I think she is, she can bring him down.'

"You have to shoot it down!" he shouted to her, "Don't you have an arrow and a bow or something!?"

She pondered, 'Arrow?' With a smirk, she answered, "No, but I have something better than that," and drew out her gun. She aimed at the glittering jewel that the crow ingested, invincible to others but not to her, and let out a shot.

"WHAT THE FU—" The sound of the shot exploded right through Inuyasha's sensitive ears. He fell abruptly to the ground and whimpered pitifully that he missed seeing the jewel that shattered in hundred pieces, strewn to all directions in the region.

((((O))))

"STUPID! STUPID! STUPID WENCH!"

"SHUT UP YOU BOKE! HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW IT'S GOING TO BREAK!?" Flushed, she yelled at him. 'What is he doing, accusing me of taking something from him, when the jewel was actually taken from _me_!? What was that anyway? Maybe it was something that they planted in me. How dare they!' Seething in rage, she seemed oblivious to the wound on her waist.

"Here, let me take care of that." The monk offered his aid. Kagome seemed baffled for a second and followed his gaze. "Oh, it's nothing really, a mosquito bite," she answered, waving her hand in a placating mode.

"Kagome, nobody needs to know that pains turn you on." Kazuhiko took a step forward, ready to tend her wound.

"Kazuhiko! You pervert, just shut the hell up!" she hissed at him, and he, in return, smirked at her. "And you, masochistic girl, acted without plans."

"I did not!" She huffed. "There was no time for it. I executed the best method I thought was best." Glancing at her waist, she winced. "You don't have to sew it, do you?"

"No, it did not go deep, and it's already healing anyway."

All the while as the two visitors from the future were lost in their own world, the three friends were inspecting them from head to toe. The girl, whose name was Kagome, was quite tiny and slim. Her soft and curvy body seemed to never make acquaintance with any hard encounter, which made her combat ability appear more fantastic than ever. Innocence seemed to radiate from her person, adding a touch of childlike trait to her sexy goddess-like exterior. She was young; the youth screamed practically from her countenance, but this sort of youth was a kind that made every men itch. When she walked down the street, they would gape at her. Oblivious to the arousals she awoke, she would innocently stroll down the street, leisurely lose herself in conversation, unconscious that every move, twitch of muscle, soft flows of breathing were very acutely stalked.

Her features were beautifully delicate, an elfin-shaped face with bright smoky blue eyes, which were framed with dramatic long lashes, regally arched brow. She had a cute thin little nose, delightfully curved, sensual rosy lips, long shining silk of midnight-black hair that reached her bottoms. Her slightly wavy hair was beautifully layered, and the front hair was kept from her face with two tiny hairclips.

Her clothing was the most interesting part; she wore a denim mini skirt, beaded black silk cami top, a zipper utility black leather jacket, tight-fitting to the body, black leather biker-gloves, and a tall pair of black flat boots.

It was definitely most inappropriate for Sengoku Jidai, but one male seemed not to mind as his eyes roamed the bare part of Kagome's legs. Normally he would be knocked out by now, but a certain taijiya had her eyes fixed on someone else.

Kazuhiko tended Kagome's wound tenderly. He was unaware of being watched. He dabbed the wound tenderly with iodine doused white cloth, occasionally looking up at Kagome, silently asking her if he was hurting her.

The 6'8 tall man had the most beautiful, gentlest eyes Sango ever saw. The features of his face were strong and handsome. His lips, beautifully curved and dark, were enticing. His jaw-line protruded strength, and he trimmed his hair short and spiky.

He was finely built; his upper body was muscular from the training; the narrow hip and the sleek muscular legs under his jeans advanced with the agility of a panther. He wore a well-fitting long sleeve black shirt under his long black coat, a cigarette tugged behind his ear.

The two strangers turned to face the three companions.

"Now, for a proper introduction…"

(((())))O(((())))O(((())))

Boke: dummy

A/N: I know this might not seem like a sess/kag fic, but it is. They will meet each other soon, I promise. Please read and review, thanks a lot.


	2. Saving Inuyasha

Saving Inuyasha

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

"I'm Higurashi Kagome. My friend here is Tsuji Kazuhiko, and like I said before, we're from the future Edo."

"How did you learn to fight like that?" Inuyasha sputtered out the first question that had been nagging his mind.

Kagome smiled proudly. "We're actually soldiers, members of an elite unit. Our division is trained mainly for ground battle. I'm the strategist, and Kazuhiko —," she paused. Suddenly her mood changed, an air of heaviness closed on her features.

"I'm the secret weapon," Kazuhiko completed her sentence coolly. He wrapped his arm around her waist discreetly in attempt of a comfort.

Inuyasha frowned over their surreptitious intimacy, and then he chided himself for being jealous when he barely knew them at all. But, still, the girl carried the jewel in her. When Urasue resurrected Kikyou's body, she hadn't found the jewel that was supposed to be embedded in her body, and now the said stone was found in this girl's body. Apparently she could even spur the jewel, remembering that she had correctly aimed her shot. It could only mean one thing; Kagome was Kikyou's reincarnation.

**I know that the ogress needed Kagome's soul to resurrect Kikyou, but in this fiction let's just say that Urasue had found a way to resurrect Kikyou without Kagome's soul **

"Kikyou…" Inuyasha whispered subconsciously.

"Excuse me? No, it's Kagome." Kagome was baffled over the hanyou's reaction, how could he mishear Kagome for Kikyou?

"No! That couldn't be…" Sango gasped. Her eyes widened over the fact that she could probably be the clay miko's reincarnation.

"Of course it is, the last time I checked…" her sentence hung uncompleted in the air. Kagome looked around to find surprised faces of the three companions over a fact that only they knew. She edged closer to Kazuhiko, feeling a bit insecure. Suddenly the hanyou growled as if reproving her reaction.

"That's it. Let's go, Kazuhiko. We are so out of here. Thank you for your errm… unconventional hospitality, but we must get going. Goodbye."

"No wait, Miss, please… We would like to explain something. I suggest we go to a more comfortable place where I could explain our newfound fact to you without interruption."

((((O))))

"A reincarnation? Me? No, absolutely not." Kagome stood up and stubbornly stomped her foot.

The group sat together on the ground. They were now in a small hut.

"What do you mean no!? Stupid human, you can't just turn away from this proven fact!"

"I don't care, and what got you so riled anyway? The whole time was like as if I'm a nuisance to you. First you accuse me of destroying the jewel as if it belongs to you when it was from me, my body, that it was taken, and now this. You are one rude childish mutt!" Kagome just had it with his behavior towards her.

"Inuyasha, you will behave yourself!" The old miko, named Kaede, ordered him sternly. The hanyou only growled out his response.

"We are not sure about this too, but, like I said, when my sister died, she took the jewel in her, and it was found in your body."

"Kazuhiko, can you believe this? Good God! I'm supposed to carry a soul of a priestess in me, and they say that crack was a twentieth century's invention." She huffed in annoyance. Kazuhiko only smiled and stretched out his hand, beckoning her to come to him. She immediately complied and rested her back against his hard chest as he pulled her towards him.

The monk cleared out his throat while Kaede, Inuyasha, and Sango looked away, feeling a bit uneasy over the open intimacy.

Kazuhiko looked up and smiled gently. "Maybe she is the reincarnation of the priestess." Kagome started, but he pulled her back towards him and stroked her hair. "Sshh… I said maybe, didn't I? But I think Kagome should decide for herself if she is truly the reincarnation of the miko. I mean the soul belongs to her now, so what does it matter who she was before?"

The group fell into silence. They finally understand the girl's stubborn conduct. To her, individuality did matter, being told all her life that she was exceptional, and that was what she knew she was, different. So to doubt the uniqueness of her being was to belittle her existence. But, anyway, didn't individuality matter to anyone? No one would like to be pointed out that they had lived someone else's life.

Kagome clasped his hand in hers and kissed it, offering him a silent thank you.

"Maybe we should be more tactful bringing upon the subject, but what matter is that we would like you to help us, Kagome. You seemed to be the only one who could spur the jewel. We need to find all the shards back before they fall into the hands of Naraku." Kaede looked grave as she mentioned the name of their enemy.

Kagome pondered over this. They had explained to her before who Naraku was and all his crimes against them and the rest of the country. She almost smiled ironically when she realized the fact that she was avoiding a battle in the past future only to stumble upon another battle in the presence past.

But there was something else besides Naraku and the miko. It was the jewel. They cofirmed her that it granted wishes except when it was an unselfish wish. Because after such wish was made, the jewel would disappear forever. Kagome started, she could use a wish or two.

"I'll help you in one condition. I would like to make a wish too on the jewel."

"Then it's settled. You'll help us."

((((O))))

"Kagome-sama —"

"Kagome-sama? Ooh… I like you, monk. No one has ever called me that. I would call you Miroku-sama then," turning to her companion, "Kazuhiko, isn't he lovely? I've never seen a holy man before, but he is unlike everything I imagined."

Unconscious to the monk's leering face and his awkward movement to shift his lower region, she continued to praise the monk.

"Watch it, wench. You'd only arouse him more if you continue lauding him. His pride is not the only thing that's swelling right now," while he said this, Inuyasha was smiling wickedly.

"Wha—" The girl looked at the appointed area and screamed, "AAAAAARGH! You — you — you're no MONK! You're not pure at all! And — and — how can you get a hard-on over something like that!?"

"I think it was on the word 'lovely'," the monk replied calmly and smirked. "So you find me lovely, don't you?"

She scrunched up her cute little nose in disgust, eyes narrowing, looking at him accusingly. "Not right now. You're not!"

They were camping outside for the night. Inuyasha had insisted that they started their quest after Kagome had agreed to join them.

Suddenly Inuyasha stood up. He smelled the night air and vanished into the darkness.

Kagome frowned. "What was that all about?"

The monk sighed tiredly. "His night-ritual, actually our night-ritual. Did you see those soul stealer?" Kagome blinked. Miroku grinned and explained graphically, "Those floating green little demons."

"Oh, those eel-like things?"

The monk coughed to hide his amusement. "Yes, those, they belong to Kikyou, Inuyasha's old flame. She sought him every night to drag him to hell."

Kagome lifted her brow. "Every night? But he's still here."

"Well, we can't exactly allow him to be dragged to hell, Kagome-sama. We are, after all, his friends, and after some time, our interfering became something like training. But now it is downright boring." Miroku sighed again. "I mean it's so uneventful. Sango would throw her hiraikotsu at him, and I would chant my sutra to drive her away."

The monk sighed once again, and Sango nodded her agreement.

Suddenly his face brightened. "Would you like to try it for once, Kagome-sama?"

Kagome frowned. "Try what? Convince him to stay? Why should I? He's such a pest."

"But, Kagome-sama, it'll be fun. We could make a bet out of this."

Sango interfered, "A bet, monk?"

Miroku looked down sheepishly. "Well, a harmless bet, like who gets to cook breakfast in the morning or washes the girls' backs when they're bathing —"

!!BONK!!

"Watch it, monk." Sango wiped her hiraikotsu clean. Kagome giggled over the incident.

Kazuhiko grinned. "Well, I guess that wouldn't be necessary."

"What wouldn't be necessary?" Kagome asked him between her giggles.

"To convince him to stay. Ten minutes have passed since Inuyasha went to the forest."

"OH, SHIT!" The two friends immediately made their way to the neglected hanyou.

((((O))))

"Okay Kagome-sama, there he is. Look, he's in trance. You have to break him out of his trance first. If you succeeded, the first five shards belong to you. Good luck."

"Is that Kikyou over there? Is that thing supposed to share my soul?" Kagome studied the clay miko. Her eyes scanned her appearance. Their faces might be a bit similar, but Kagome was indeed the more captivating (A/N: isn't she always is?). Maybe the difference lay in their eyes, the other's smoky blue and lively while the eyes of the miko brown and dead, or maybe the maturity of the features, Kagome's young and soft while the miko's hard and defined. These two faces, when viewed together side by side, wouldn't suggest any similarity to the eyes familiar with their persons.

But the difference lay deep down than that. It was in the aura. While the undead miko flaunted her borrowed ki to the vicinity, Kagome hid hers; while Kikyou looked false in her attempt to be serene, Kagome was every bit of innocence and liveliness. Heart-stopping was the reaction of the beholder of the eyes that rested upon the blue eyed girl's features. These facts alone were enough to make them appeared physically dissimilar.

Time to save Inuyasha from errm… himself?

"Yo, you aho, do you really want to go to hell?" Inuyasha's eyes that a minute ago had been empty now shone back with life.

"Who are you calling aho, wench!?" he shouted back, annoyed.

"See, Kazuhiko. He wants it. Let him be. The wish belongs solely to us then."

"Hey! Hey! Wait a minute! Who said —"

"What!? You want the jewel too? You're going to die anyway. Don't be so greedy, or Amida Buddha won't admit you in his Nirvana. Oh! I forgot; you're going to hell… Well, was lovely knowing you. Come on Kazuhiko; let's go."

Inuyasha started to call out to her. When she didn't respond, he stepped out of Kikyou's embrace, oblivious that he had even done that at all.

"Miroku-sama, I won! The first seven shards belong to me!" Kagome clapped her hands happily.

"The agreement was only five, Kagome-sama," Miroku protested.

"That's right, but he has broken out of her hold by himself. I didn't even have the chance to knock him out." Kagome pouted cutely.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?" Inuyasha was practically steaming from fury.

While the group was arguing, the undead miko was neglected in her wrath. She reached out for her bow and shot an arrow in their direction.

Kazuhiko caught the arrow that was meant for Kagome without even looking at where the arrow was coming from, he snapped the arrow into two, and dropped them to the ground.

Kazuhiko turned slowly to face the miko as he spoke calmly but dangerously, "you will never try that ever again."

Kikyou narrowed her eyes. "Who is she?"

Suddenly all eyes were turning to her and Kagome. Inuyasha stammered, "I think she is — your reincarnation —" and he fell to the ground.

Kagome rubbed her fist, glaring at the hanyou, and all the while Kikyou smiled wickedly. "I shall enjoy taking your soul out of your body." The clay miko said as she left the vicinity, followed by the drifting soul stealers.

((((O))))

"Inuyasha, you should go and apologize to Kagome-sama." Miroku nudged the hanyou.

"Why should I? I didn't say anything that was untrue, and she was the one who hit me, remember!?" Inuyasha massaged his stinging cheek.

Sango huffed. "You deserved it anyway, insensitive jerk! Go on, get going and apologize to her. She saved your life today in case you forgot!"

"I didn't ask her to save my life! And it was a bet! You guys actually bet on me!"

"Stop whining like a kid! All you have to do is to go to her and say 'I'm sorry'. What's so hard about that!?"

Inuyasha stomped his way to Kagome. She was sitting under a tree. Kazuhiko was napping on the other side. Inuyasha slowed his pace until he was right before her. He managed to grit out his apology.

Kagome looked up sharply. She glared at him for a second, and then her eyes softened. "Sorry, I hit you."

"I'm —" All of a sudden an aura of danger closed in on them. Inuyasha sniffed the air. He swore under his breath.

"Who's coming, now?" Kagome asked him.

"Sesshoumaru."

(((())))O(((())))O(((())))

Aho: stupid

A/N: yes, I dislike Kikyou, that was quite obvious after this chapter, I think. Well, hope you enjoy it, and please, please do review, you don't know how much your opinions mean to me.


	3. The Legacy

The Legacy

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

"Sesshoumaru?" Kagome asked him.

"He's coming!" With one leap, Inuyasha disappeared from the vicinity.

Kagome watched him leave. She was battling in her inside. It seemed as if the hanyou was in danger or was about to be in danger. She didn't want to meddle with his problem, but her conscience was tugging on her.

"Go if you have to," Kazuhiko whispered softly, his eyes closed.

"I don't have to. Neither do I want to." Kagome dropped her body beside him.

"Go, you know you like him."

Kagome started. She almost sputtered her next words, "I certainly don't! That boy is the most impolite, weird-looking, abusive creature I have ever met!"

Kazuhiko smiled. "Sounds like you're already considered him as a friend." She huffed. He opened his eyes and turned to her. "Go, I'll wait here so long."

"You promise you won't help me?" Kagome asked him tentatively. He nodded.

"But you understand that I still have to—?" once again she asked him. He heavily nodded this time. Kagome pressed a finger to the side of his neck, and instantly he fell into unconsciousness.

She brushed the side of his face tenderly. After giving him a quick but tender kiss to his cheek, she left to find Inuyasha.

((((O))))

Once she got to Inuyasha, she saw that he was climbing through a portal, so she followed him inside.

"Stupid girl! What are you doing here!?" Inuyasha yelled at her when she caught up with him. And she almost left him then and there. But then she looked into her surroundings; bones and skulls were scattered all over the place. Trying hard to keep the fear out of her voice she questioned him, "Where the hell are we?"

Inuyasha growled over her choice of words. "Show some respect, we're in my father's tomb."

"Your father's tomb! Are you saying that between these bones lie the bones of your father!?"

"No. I'll show you where he is." A bird of bones suddenly appeared. They climbed into its back, and the bird took them to a giant skeleton.

"It's his skeleton."

Kagome could only watch in wonder. "It's big."

"It's the bone of his true youkai form. He was once a taiyoukai. My father had reined over the western land of Japan. But now Sesshoumaru is the lord of the western land." Inuyasha's expression was unreadable, but his tone was weaker with every word he uttered.

"So, this Sesshoumaru is your brother?" Kagome asked softly.

"Half-brother!" He snarled at her. Seeing her stunned expression, he dropped his head and whispered silently, "Half-brother…"

"I see… does it have anything to do with the fact that he ruled over your father's land and you're not?" Kagome asked him again carefully.

"Keh, none of your business, wench." He turned away from her and headed into the skeleton.

This time Kagome didn't feel like scolding him.

((((O))))

Inside the cave a demon reached for a katana that was stuck in a stone table, but before he could touch it, electricity crackled around the hilt. He was rejected by the energy of the sword. The youkai narrowed his eyes in displeasure. Though his beautiful face still remained expressionless, a dangerous aura was visible in the surroundings.

Suddenly he pulled his upper body elegantly backward. His long, silver white hair flew on each sides of him, caused by his movement.

Inuyasha's attack was easily dodged, and he fell down on the floor hard.

"Temper, little brother, temper, it doesn't go well with lack of skill." His cold voice rang out in the air. Though every bit of his words dripped with sarcasm, Kagome couldn't help but shiver hearing his clear and yet deep tone.

Sesshoumaru sniffed the air lightly, and he turned to face her. "Another girlfriend of yours?" His gaze followed her intensely. Suddenly Kagome had to fight the urge to blush over his scrutinizing eyes, but she quickly snapped out of her embarrassment when she realized what he had just said.

"No, but I thought you would fill that post better than me." Kagome commented while she was throwing a glance at his whole appearance. 'One beautiful guy and he just had to be a cross dresser.' She threw a quick glance at his pelt. 'A cross dresser with a fashion-victim tendency, that is just great.'

Sesshoumaru's eyes immediately sparkled with suppressed amusement while Inuyasha was too cataleptic to even hear her. The taiyoukai stepped closer to her, and Kagome immediately positioned herself in a fighting stance, eliciting almost an amused chuckle from him.

But before Sesshoumaru could reach her, he was stopped short by his hanyou brother, who was once again on his feet to charge at him. But his attack was once again ineffective. Sesshoumaru was too strong and fast for him. Again, Inuyasha's claws were scraping the dirt.

Sesshoumaru was about to comment on his brother's stupidity when he felt a cracking pain on his back. The shock and the impact of the attack were causing him a slight dizziness. With surprised eyes, he spun around to face his attacker, and that was when Kagome struck his jaw with all the strength she could gather in her fist.

Inuyasha, who had witnessed the small scene, could only gape at her when she rushed to his side to help him to his feet. Kagome yanked at his hand forcefully. "Don't just lie there and stare at me! He could be on his feet anytime now!"

Inuyasha grabbed her hand to steady himself. When he was finally standing firm on his feet, he caught her wincing slightly, and then a whiff of blood surrounded his sensitive nose. He looked down at her hand and saw blood appearing slightly on her damaged knuckles.

"Stupid wench! Why didn't you say anything!?" He gripped her hand and brought it to his face, examining it carefully. Kagome looked at him, a little bemused at his conduct. "And what are you going to do about it? Nurse me —"

She stopped short when she saw him licking at her wounds. She immediately yanked her hand back and pulled a disgusted face at him. "Eew! Warn me if you're going to do that!"

"Ungrateful bitch! I was only closing your wounds!" He snarled at her, surprised when she pulled away her hand.

"Okay! Thank you, you brute! Just get what you need to have from this place and let's get out of here! Oh great! He's recovering now!" Kagome rambled nervously as she watched Sesshoumaru slowly stood up and turned around to face them.

Sesshoumaru was livid, but he didn't allow his anger to show in his face. He looked at the girl, who stood next to his brother, and narrowed his eyes at her. "Attacking an opponent from behind? The most famous human art, I heard."

"Yes, only that you're not actually my opponent, you're his. And I wouldn't call that an attack. I was merely trying to get to the other side, and you were in the way." Kagome mustered an innocent look on her face while Inuyasha was staring at her as if she had suddenly lost her mind.

Sesshoumaru was silent for a moment, and then he turned his gaze at his brother and gave him a sneering glance. "Does your wench always talk this much, Inuyasha?"

"Enough of this, you bastard! You're not going anywhere with that sword, Sesshoumaru, because it's for me! Father trusted it to me. The only thing that he truly treasured in his life, he gave to me. You should at least respect his last wish."

"And give you a powerful legacy that you'd probably use for cleaning your toe-nails? I don't think so, dear brother. Father might not know how undeserving you are, but I'm here to correct the mistakes he made in the past."

"Maybe it's time for you to accept the fact whom father had truly cared for, brother," Inuyasha said mockingly. For a moment he was undeniably satisfied to see his brother's anger at his words. He had finally managed to touch him, hurt him like he had innumerably hurt him before.

Sesshoumaru didn't waste his time lashing his toxic whip in their direction, and Kagome, who had expected his attack, pulled out her katana. As soon as it appeared the katana extended tenth its size. Its blade, when looked from afar was like a long broad chain, but actually this whip-like weapon was many small separated pieces of the blade, strung with an almost invisible strong thread. Kagome's blade-whip caught the toxic whip before it headed towards their direction. It slung against another like vines until the toxic whip dispersed into rain of flames.

Inuyasha watched as the ground beneath them withered under the toxic assault. A burned, acid smell covered the whole area of the battle.

Kagome still held her stance; she didn't dare to take her eyes away from this enemy. She had an instinct that the villain was dangerous. Sesshoumaru, on the other hand, was for the very first time in his life surprised to see his failed attack. He locked eyes with the girl and was further surprised to see the look of determination and cold detachment in her eyes. She was no regular girl. He had seen this look before. It was the look that many men had had before they made their final attack, to kill and die or nothing at all.

Suddenly her expression changed; a pained grimace replaced her cold look, and she coughed up blood.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha's eyes widened. "It's the toxic acid!" Inuyasha rushed to her side as he gazed at her worriedly.

Kagome wiped the smeared blood from her mouth. "Is it deadly?" she asked Inuyasha without taking her eyes off Sesshoumaru.

"Not at first," Inuyasha said softly. "It's suffocating in the beginning, and then a surge of blood rushes to your brain until you couldn't stand the pressure and literally," he added morbidly, "Explode."

"Speaking from experience, aren't you?" Kagome coughed up more blood and wiped it again with the back of her hand. She glanced at her opponent. "O, look, my present condition delighted him." Sesshoumaru's face remained expressionless. Inuyasha looked harder to see if he had missed something. "I didn't see anything."

"You have to feel his happy aura." More blood. "He's about to attack. Inuyasha, you go fetch your sword while I —"

"Uh-uh." Inuyasha shook his head. "I'm taking you out of this place."

Kagome ignored him and dashed up towards Sesshoumaru.

"Stupid, stubborn girl!" Inuyasha ran up to her.

"I've never seen a human who anticipates his death so much as you do." Sesshoumaru dodged the attack of her katana.

"Remember this, human. For one attack that you executed to this Sesshoumaru, I would return hundreds back." Suddenly Sesshoumaru disappeared from Kagome's line of vicinity. But trained as a soldier her whole life, she managed to intercept Sesshoumaru's surprise attack until she realized that it was a feint. And the next thing she knew, a deep gash on her left arm began to throb painfully.

She didn't scream nor did she flinch as she felt the slicing pain. Ignoring her wounds, she wasted no time as she made a lunge at him. Moving in a speed that was indistinguishable to the normal eyes, she appeared suddenly behind Sesshoumaru from above. Sensing her presence, he turned swiftly around and stepped back to avoid the slung charge of her chain-like katana and utterly missing to notice the right-handed swipe from a small blade that coming out of her sleeve. The thin blade managed to cut the skin under his left eye.

For a moment Sesshoumaru was shocked to find the girl managed to touch him, but his surprise lasted only for a second as he realized that the girl was no longer in the area of his vision. As the seconds passed, he began to detect that sensing his opponent's presence was getting more difficult as if the girl had suddenly suppress her aura; this was not usual from a mortal opponent.

Kagome watched from a small hiding, waiting to execute a new ambush.

The trickle of the blood on his left cheek became stronger. Normally such cut would close itself immediately due to his rapid healing ability, and yet now, as if adding to his injury, there was a slight drowsiness that made his movements seemed heavier.

Knowing that the tranquilizer, coating the blade, had worked, Kagome charged towards him from above. She whipped down her chain-like katana and caught him on his shoulder. Sesshoumaru grabbed the part of the blade with the end of it still embedded in his right shoulder and pulled it to him, ignoring the sharpness of the blade that threatened to sever his fingers.

Kagome was for a moment surprised by his strength. The tranquilizer on the blade was allegedly strong enough for ten men, and Sesshoumaru was supposed to be completely anesthetized by now, but her opponent was far from neutralized. In a moment of surprise she was pulled down to the ground; the material of her clothes burned against the still active acid on the soil.

Sesshoumaru relentlessly pulled on the katana so that Kagome was dragged towards him by the force of the pull, scraping the front of her body against the acidic ground. He spotted her hand holding the small blade and stepped on it.

Kagome suppressed a silent scream of pain as she let go of her blade. Sesshoumaru bent down to pick the blade up and examined it. He sneered cruelly as he tossed the blade to the side. "Do you have more tricks under your sleeve now, you worm?" He held out his hand as his claws lengthened themselves tenth their span. "You know what we do to despicable, deceitful warrior such as you?" He pulled the almost unconscious Kagome to her feet. The extended claws were suddenly embedded in the left side of her waist. "We shredded them to pieces."

The shock of the nauseating pain was the only thing that kept her from unconsciousness as toxic acid was emitted from his claws, burning the wound's opening. Kagome flexed her left hand; it flew to his wrist, twisted his hand, and pushed it away; the movements were executed in one beat, and then she jumped back in a flash, creating a fair distance between her and Sesshoumaru.

Again the youkai lord was amazed. Although the girl was heavily wounded, she was apparently still able to fight fair and well. Her face was showing no trace of pain whatsoever. It was held expressionless and cold. For a moment a thought skipped across his mind that it wouldn't be right to kill her.

Keeping her gaze straight to her opponent, Kagome wondered if she was going to survive this fight, but she immediately chased such thought away from her mind. It wouldn't matter if she wasn't meant to survive. The enemy before her — an opponent that was at such a gamma scale and probably more superior to her — was more than she could wish for.

A slight check to Inuyasha; apparently he was struggling with the sword. The sword refused to budge as he kept pulling it out. The vein on the side of his neck bulged under the exertion. As he threw a slight glance at the duel before him, he froze watching his brother's claws impaled in Kagome's waist; a surge of white rage coursed through his veins as he let out an enraged roar forcing the energy from his gut to be freed. Channeling all his energies through his hands, he pulled the sword out, and finally it gave way.

Kagome locked eyes for a moment with her hanyou friend. She saw the sword in his hand and smiled a little at his success. Sesshoumaru followed her eyes, and upon seeing the blade in Inuyasha's hand, he suppressed an angry snarl as he turned the object of his attack to his half-brother.

Kagome, surprised at the direction-change of his opponent, followed him, but this time she refrained herself to attack him from behind. He deserved a good clean fight.

Inuyasha readied himself against his brother attack, holding the old sword poised in front of him. Blocking the strike of Sesshoumaru's extended claws with the sword, he channeled all his energy into the rusty katana. The block was successfully executed, but when he moved to an attack, swinging the katana straight down from above, the silly, dull blade did not slash through Sesshoumaru's block, but, instead, it gained a new chip on the surface.

The katana bounced from Inuyasha's hand to fall with a clank on the ground. The three occupants of the cave stared at the blade with mix emotion of disappointment and humor.

Sesshoumaru was the one who broke the silence first. "And what a legacy it is," he commented sneeringly, "How fitting it is for you, hanyou. You and your sword are both worthless." And with that, he struck Inuyasha with his toxic whip, throwing him to the corner of the cave.

The taiyoukai then turned towards her. Lifting his stoic brow, he asked her out of the blue, "How would you prefer your death?"

"Painless if possible," Kagome answered him in good humor.

"You should've thought of such options before you attacked me from the back, filthy human."

"You see." Kagome sighed theatrically as she rested a hand on her cocked hip, trying to strike the pose as smoothly as she could, blocking the pain from her waist. "This is what's wrong with you old warriors. You left your back open and blamed your opponent when they tried to take a chance at this angle of an attack. As a fighter, you should keep every part of yourself on guard all the time."

The word 'old' slightly irritated him, but he didn't let it show, schooling a stony mask on his face.

Kagome tilted her face to the side as she watched him. "You're good," she admitted softly.

"Whatever it is, I'm better." With that arrogant statement, he advanced full speed.

Kagome, trained on the slightest movement the enemy was making, recoiled quickly from the advance, but Sesshoumaru followed her trail closely, giving her no room to escape. Feeling that she almost reached the wall of the cave, Kagome performed a fantastic mid air maneuver and finished the move with an acrobatic kick in full power that would dislocate any man's head off his shoulder.

Inuyasha, who had recovered from the previous attack, observed the fight with attentive eyes. Though the movement seemed blurry to the normal eyes, being a hanyou, he was able to catch it and, in result, tremendously impressed. His jaw dropped when Kagome had performed the finishing kick, but not out of fascination.

"You kicked him on the head!" he said, stupefied as Sesshoumaru was thrown to the other side of the cave from the power of the blow. "Nobody ever touched him on the face, yet you did it, twice even," he continued as he moved to stand on her side.

"I know," Kagome sighed, "I'm good too."

"No, that means we're dead, wench." Inuyasha then grinned at her, "But it's okay, you get to touch his head. Now, it's my turn."

"What do you mean?" Kagome looked at him dryly. "He's mine, okay? Go get your rusty sword and get out of here."

"No fucking way," Inuyasha whispered as his eyes were trained on Sesshoumaru, "If you get to do it then so do I."

"Let's do this chit chat some time later, okay? He's up." Kagome watched keenly as Sesshoumaru, not only picking himself up, but expanded his form as well.

"He's transforming," Inuyasha whispered back.

"He's freaking huge," Kagome answered him, her eyes glued to the transformed shape of the taiyoukai.

"It's always the size, isn't it?" Inuyasha said jokingly.

"Yeah, but then again, how'd you know?" Kagome responded just as serious.

Inuyasha gave her an annoyed side glance, thoroughly pissed.

The now, as a giant dog, transformed Sesshoumaru turned his enormous-sized head towards them, his eyes glaring red. He snarled fiercely as toxic drips coming out of his mouth.

"That is one angry dog," Kagome commented softly.

Inuyasha snorted at her comment, and then his expression grew sober. "You don't have to die with me."

"Sssh, it's bad luck to think about losing before winning."

Inuyasha grinned. "You're a character, you know that?"

Kagome shrugged as they evade a giant paw that was meant to crush them. "Sword, take it!" She picked up the rusty katana and threw it to him.

"It's useless!" he yelled back.

"You don't stick a piece of useless metal inside a stone. There's gotta be something about it. Try swinging it around or something!" she shouted at him as she was trying to dodge another paw, drawing her own chain-like sword out.

He did as told and turned to her with a bored look as nothing occurred.

"Now, work it like you mean it," she called out to him wryly as she whipped her blade towards Sesshoumaru's hind leg. The furry skin was as hard as metal as her katana lashed back towards her. Just as she succeeded avoiding her own weapon, a kick from the giant paw sent her crashing to the wall of the cave.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha screamed out her name as he rushed forward, holding the sword frontal to his body. And as he charged while truly didn't have any idea what he was going to do, a magnificent thing happened; another transformation occurred.

He could feel the power unfurling from his abdomen transcending towards the metal, answering him back with a dose of electric jolts. The sword mutated into a bigger form, and in one strike, it cut off the impending paw of the great taiyoukai.

((((O))))

Their exit from the portal was greeted by their friends. Kazuhiko immediately rushed to Kagome's side when he saw that she walked limply towards him, supported by the hanyou.

"What happened?" he asked, "You look all cut up." He frowned worryingly as he checked up on her.

"You should've seen my opponent," she blurted out in excitement as Inuyasha cleared his throat. She gazed at him questioningly as he gave her a dry look. "Yeah, I mean 'our opponent'," she corrected.

"He lost a paw. We won," she explained simply.

"How exciting," Kazuhiko commented, uninterested at her account, as he checked up on her wounds.

"Hey, Dog-boy," Kagome called out to the hanyou, "You fought well too."

Inuyasha gave her an arrogant smirk, "I know." He then complied to his friends' nagging queries about the course of the event, giving the illustration an extra angst and drama here and there.

All in all, it was a good start of a journey.

(((())))O(((())))O(((())))

A/N: I know… what's with the long-ass pause… Sorry… I was on the verge of giving up this story, diverted by the sudden thought of another pairing in mind, and suddenly everything didn't seem to flow like I wanted it to, so I gave this story up. But that's not the end of the story. One day — more like two weeks ago — I looked up this story again and had this strong feeling that I could probably make it work. So here I am — totally unworthy, I know — beseeching all of you, dear readers, to read and review.


	4. Mrs Darling's Kiss

Mrs. Darling's Kiss

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or Peter Pan.

Something about these humans was quite not right. Inuyasha pondered over this thought as he observed the giant man named Kazuhiko took a handful of soil and brought it under his nose to sniff it.

"Kagome, smell this," Kazuhiko called out to the girl who was rummaging around her bag.

"What?" Kagome approached him reluctantly.

"Smell this," he said softly with, as always, great patience lacing his tone.

Kagome sniffed the dirt unenthusiastically.

"What is it?" Inuyasha rose from his perch. "Do you find anything out of the ordinary?" He refused to believe that those humans could smell better than him.

Kazuhiko gave him a blank look while Kagome responded indifferently, "It's nothing like that. This is just his hobby."

"Huh?"

Kazuhiko turned his attention back to Kagome. "It smells great, right?" He crumbled the earth in his hand and scattered it back to the ground. "It's spongy, well textured, and aerated. It's perfect for an herb garden."

"I'd guess so." Kagome shrugged.

"Imagine what we could have out here — basil, thyme, rosemary, hyssop, tarragon, chives," he paused when he noticed Kagome was tuning him out by the glassy look on her eyes "We can even have strawberries."

"Strawberries?" She looked up hopefully.

Kazuhiko nodded. "You miss that, don't you?"

"Yeah," Kagome answered softly, but then her eyes turned hard as she continued in a stiff voice. "But we don't have time for cravings or gardening. We need to move fast when we're going to get all the shards together."

Kazuhiko smiled a bit dejectedly in response. He raised his other hand, the clean one, and ruffled her hair gently.

Kagome was looking at him with a mix expression of confusion and regret, not really knowing how to handle at such situation where tenderness was sought.

The interaction was not lost on the three friends, listening from the beginning to the end, masking their interest. They were silent until suddenly the slayer came up with a question, "What's basil? Or thyme, and that dragon thing?"

"Tarragon," Kagome corrected quietly. "They're just herbs, used for cooking."

"Oh?" Her answer earned the slayer's interest as she walked up towards them. After spending a week together traveling, they had been fortunately given many chances to enjoy the newfound culinary talent of Kazuhiko. "Are they what you've been using in your cooking?" Sango asked him as she inched her way beside the man in question, squeezing her shoulder in between the two, shoving Kagome out of her position in effect.

Kagome gave the slayer an indignant glare and was about to rebuke her when Kazuhiko, thrilled of having someone to talk about herbs and food, answered her enthusiastically, "No, we don't have any of those herbs here, but I've used some of my own that I always kept with me." He gestured her to follow him as he made his way where his bag was.

Kagome felt literally all of her blood rushing to her head in a fast-paced flow. Either she was extremely embarrassed, or she was fuming with jealousy. Inuyasha decided for the latter as he watched her about to explode. She opened her mouth to say something and then decided against it as she huffed and stomped off towards the opposite direction.

"Damn. I thought there's going to be some cat fight or something of the sort," Miroku sighed in disappointment. He raised his brow in annoyance when he saw the usually tough slayer practically fawned all over the other man. "Look at him, with that height and the cooking skill. He's surely making us look bad," he commented to the hanyou.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Speak for yourself, bouzo." He eyed the direction that Kagome had taken, slightly indecisive if he should follow her or not. Under pretense of stretching his arms out, he stood up and was about to follow her when the monk called out to him warningly, "Before you go to her, Inuyasha, make sure that you're perfectly aware that she's absolutely not 'her'."

"Yeah, I know," Inuyasha answered without turning.

((((O))))

He found her squatting on the forrest ground, picking at small rocks and throwing them in no particular direction. "Hey," Inuyasha greeted her softly as he stooped next to her.

"Hey," Kagome replied, a little frown residing on her forehead, which he found cute.

He watched as one rock was thrown into a remarkable distance and could hear the next moment a remote wounded howl. "Are catching our dinner with that?"

"Huh?" Kagome turned towards him, not really taking in his words.

"Cause I'm pretty sure you already killed your game with the last three pebbles," he said grinningly.

"You can have 'em," she spoke uninterestedly. Her eyes fell to the sword that was tied on his left side. "Any luck with that?"

"Nope. I guess that time was only a one-time-thing."

"If you want to know what I think, maybe you ought to reach a certain power level in order for the sword to transform."

"Power level?"

"Yeah, like in the battle, the last strike, driven by your emotion, boosted up your fighting force no matter how tired you are or heavily wounded."

"Yeah, probably." Inuyasha fell into a deep thought. "So, I'll have to be half-dead in order for the sword to function?"

Kagome rolled her eyes at him as she muttered under her voice, "Beginner…"

Inuyasha's left eye twitched at the insult. "You know if you just tell me outright —"

"It means you have to become stronger," Kagome cut him off, "So that that kind of power level is a normal fighting condition for you, and that means practice, practice, and practice."

A slight feeling of awe entered the expression of his eyes, not that he would openly admit it. "You know an awful lot about this, do you?"

"Of course, that's what I have learned all my life ever since I could walk."

"What about him? It's hard to believe that he has learned what you learned."

"Kazuhiko is stronger than all of you put together, including your brother. He's my mentor." Kagome answered defensively.

"If he's that great then how come all he gets to do is cook?" Inuyasha asked sneeringly.

"Because —," Kagome started to raise her voice, but suddenly realizing of what she was about to reveal, she clamped shut.

"Because?" Deliberately challenging her to finish her sentence, he tried to ignore the burst of jealousy over the object of the girl's strong loyalty.

"Because he doesn't need to prove himself, he's already great as he is. He taught me all he knew. If you need verification then you might as well look at my combating capability." Kagome explicated in a cold tone.

"All we ever heard is your talk, Kagome. If he's going to stay in this team, he has to take a real part of it, and that means fighting, fighting, and fighting."

"We had a deal," Kagome hissed at him. Grabbing his hitatare lapels as she dragged him up and pushed him against a tree bark, she whispered in a calm tone, dripping with venom. "You will not, I repeat, bring him into a battlefield ever. You hear me? If I ever see, even smell the slightest intention of you violating our agreement then I'll be out of here in a flash, doing my own shard-hunting, after I have ripped you apart with my own bare hands. You got that?"

Inuyasha tried to nod as far as her choking hands would let him. He really didn't want to upset the girl, and unknowingly he had pushed too far when he had only wanted to shatter a bit of the girl's faith towards her, in his opinion, undeserving partner.

((((O))))

Sesshoumaru watched from a concealed place as the conversation took place. He flexed his new hand as he saw the sword, fastened on the hanyou side, and then his eyes fell on the girl.

Something stirred in his inside. He interpreted it as a delicious anticipation of getting to terminate her finally. No one, really no one marked his face — even if it had lasted only for a few hours — and got away with it.

And as he heard the exchange turned into some sort of dispute over a man whom she apparently highly regarded, he suppressed the ignition of primal rivalry inside him. It was normal for him to be possessive over his prey. If the thought of her having a partner bothered him then he just had to kill him as well, might as well make it all into one massive slaughter.

((((O))))

"What's the monk doing?" Inuyasha asked Sango as he watched with wide eyes the way their friend hunched over some type of a plant and cutting it into small bits.

"He's cooking." Sango rolled her eyes.

Kagome, who had just yet joined them after she had gathered some wild mushrooms, looked over towards the monk. "Hey," she called out to him as her eyes took in the instrument he was using. "Is that my tranquilizer blade?"

"What?" Miroku turned towards her and accidentally cut himself on the finger. "Ouch!" he cried out in pain as he put his finger into his mouth."

"No, don't —," Kagome didn't get to finish her warning as the monk's eyes suddenly crossed together and his body hit the ground.

"I did tell him to keep away from my stuff," Kagome sighed. "What now? He'll be out for at least a week."

"Great, then we'll be able to grow that herb garden you've talked about," Sango called out to Kazuhiko cheerily, darkening Kagome's already sour mood.

"Maybe." Kazuhiko threw a questioning look at Kagome, trying to discern her temper. He then looked at the small veggies cuts. "What a waste of food."

Kagome followed his eyes. "We need to throw everything away he prepared with the blade and bury 'em."

"Hey, I found this in the forest quite a while ago and thought you might know the name of this plant. Is it edible?" Sango closed in on Kazuhiko, showing him a bundle of herbs while Kagome was standing on the other side of him.

Before the man could answer her, however, Kagome had stepped forward, grabbed the bundle of leaves, and shredded them in pieces in front of them. She then gave the taijiya a challenging glare, the man an angry glare, and stormed off for the second time of the day.

"What's her —,"a chuckle coming from the hanyou interrupted Sango's indignant rant. She looked to her side and found that Kazuhiko was smiling in apology. Sango sighed and returned his smile reluctantly. "Sometimes she's so cuddly and other times so mean-tempered or even cold." Sango remarked dryly.

"Kagome returned action with action, so affection would naturally be retaliated with affection as well for her. But she can't, unfortunately, heal or protect with words. In those times, her retaliating instinct fails her." Kazuhiko calmly explained. "This is not an environment of our norm."

Sango nodded her head stiffly and went to check on the monk.

((((O))))

Kagome came back later that night holding a bundle of herbs in her hand. She silently went over to the slayer and handed her the woodland plant. "This is Japanese Wild Chervil. It's used to flavor dishes such as clear soup or nabemono and is rich in carotene, vitamin C, and Calcium." A nervous pause ensued before she continued, "I'm sorry for throwing a hissy fit."

Sango blinked before she nodded and smiled tentatively at Kagome. Having understood only half of what the younger girl was saying, she abandoned the thought of asking for more clarifying information.

Kazuhiko grinned at Kagome and ruffled her hair. "So you did listen to me from time to time I tried to explain something to you."

Kagome slightly pouted, and then her tone grew serious. "I always listen to you, you know that."

Watching the exchange between Kagome and Kazuhiko, Sango suddenly realized that it was completely hopeless to try to divide the attention of the gentle male to her direction. A part of her had understood that the connection between Kagome and Kazuhiko was too deep-rooted and untouchable to the outside party, but another part of her still bemoaned the fact that she couldn't have him. She turned her attention towards the sedated monk next to her and sighed, wishing him to be at least slightly less a pervert when he woke up.

((((O))))

"Is it even possible?" Kazuhiko said wonderingly as he stared at the corner of her mouth.

"What? What is it?" Kagome asked him as she sat between his legs, her back to his chest. She rested her head easily against his raising knee, exposing the right side of her neck, the soft jaw line, and an amazingly marble-smooth cheek.

"The kiss," he answered simply as he touched the spot that captured his gaze.

"The kiss?" Kagome asked him smilingly, laughter in her voice, as dimples easily made their appearance, urged by the attractive way the corners of her mouth uplifted themselves into a smile.

"The unattainable kiss, there it is, mocking at me, conspicuous in the right-hand corner."

"The kiss?" Kagome asked again teasingly as the addictive sound of her laughter grew. "You're so silly," she remarked lightheartedly as she shook her head.

"Yes, I'm sure of it now." Kazuhiko ignored her comment and continued, "Mrs. Darling's kiss." ()

"Mrs. Darling's kiss," Kagome mimicked his words and laughed again, her eyes shining brightly in the darkness.

Sesshoumaru wondered if he should listen to their senseless babble any second longer. He should just kill them here and now, but then he thought about his first priority of gaining the sword first and relished the idea of testing its power on those silly humans.

The taiyoukai watched as the couple continued to whisper nonsense to each other, secluded in their own secret world. A kiss in the corner of the lips, indeed.

His eyes narrowed as he felt it again, the stirring in his inside. He deemed it as probably a twist of revulsion over such scenery.

(((())))O(((())))O(((())))

() from Peter Pan

A/N: Before anyone rants at me about the story being absolutely OOC, I just want to make it clear that I know it's OOC; it meant to be OOC.

Okay, I said the word three times. God knows how I hate repetitions (even though I occasionally can not evade making them). So if you read the story and find it unacceptable, just chill before you send me any flames, okay?


	5. Catfight

Catfight

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or Dark Angel (American cyberpunk science fiction program, which ran from 2000-2002 on the FOX network).

Until now Kagome didn't know who she was fighting against, and this state of ignorance would last for the next few weeks.

"Fire, summer, northeast," Kagome snorted, "What a bull!"

Kazuhiko gave her a questioning look.

"Look," she gestured wildly around her. "Cold, autumn, west!"

"Your point?"

"It's all lies. History should be rewritten. Fictions should be corrected. Youkai are not to be associated with fire, the direction northeast, or the season summer, for pete's sake."

Kazuhiko, though he really didn't care, nodded in agreement.

"I mean, of all the countries in the world, of all the seasons of the year, why can't we be stuck somewhere warm and not Japan? I should be in one of the Caribbean Islands right now, trying to open a coconut with my hands, a garland of exotic flowers around my neck, but no, here we are in a period, where the best technology is various incenses that emit funny smells, stuck nursing a monk who has been tranquilized by a knife that's to be invented in the future centuries."

"Yeah, surreal, I know."

"Surreal!?" Kagome looked at him disbelievingly. "This is more than surreal! It's our fate; we're stuck in this vicious circle until the day we die."

"Don't be so dramatic. Is the cold really bothering you?"

"I can withstand cold or heat," she grumbled, "It's just not my kind of weather."

"It'll get colder," Sango commented as she gazed around the forest.

"Where is that brat when you need him?" Inuyasha growled as an annoyed ticking resided on his temple.

Kagome turned to them. "Who are you talking about?"

"It's not worth explaining. You'll see when he gets here." Then suddenly his nose twitched.

"It's about time, runt! We gave you a week, and you decided to prolong it into two weeks!? Get down here!" Inuyasha shouted.

A small humanoid kitsune appeared before them, mounting a giant two tailed cat demon. "Hi," he greeted them shyly.

Inuyasha walked over to him and bopped the small kitsune on tops of his head. "Names, minions, information, anything," he demanded while the little boy held his head and wailed.

"Stop it, Inuyasha!" Sango yelled at him.

"Don't yell at me!" The hanyou turned to the slayer. "He's the one who wasted our time!"

"Well, yeah, but you don't have to be so brutal. He's just a kid," Sango replied in a gruff manner, not actually wanting to have to take sides. She hefted her cat demon that had transformed into a petite pet cat in her arm and took off in the other direction.

"So, runt," Inuyasha cracked his knuckles, "You're dead now."

"Oh yeah!? Think you can actually kill me, half-mutt!?" Pulling a fighting stance, Shippou shouted back arrogantly, which didn't suit well to his tears-streaked, scrunched face.

"There will be no fighting," Kazuhiko said calmly, but firmly, as he lifted the little kitsune until they were eye to eye. Looking at the small demon face, he pulled out a handkerchief and wiped softly the kitsune's face.

Shippou was for a moment stunned when the giant man lifted him into his arms. Out of fear, he didn't dare to move. Then he looked into the man's eyes and saw only warmth and gentleness that made him immediately succumb to his kind ministrations like most children would.

"My name's Kazuhiko, and what is yours?" The man's heavy and warm voice bedazzled him for a while, reminding him of his father's voice.

"Shippou," he answered softly.

"You, stay out of this!" Not yet on the name term with the giant man, Inuyasha made a move to snatch the kitsune away.

Kagome tripped him and said warningly as he fell to the ground, "Don't tell him what to do."

"Shippou, this is Kagome. Kagome, say hi to Shippou."

The kitsune turned towards Kagome and started to blush.

Not really comfortable being around children, Kagome gave him a stiff smile and nodded. "Hi, Shippou."

"Hi, Kagome," the kitsune answered timidly.

"Hey!" Inuyasha protested as he began to pick himself up.

Kazuhiko set Shippou down, and the kitsune immediately attached himself to his leg. He walked over to Inuyasha and offered him a hand. "With the monk still unconscious, there's really not much time lost, is it not?"

Inuyasha was about to slap his hand away when he saw that Kagome was watching him frowningly. Taking the bigger man's offer of hand, he huffed grumpily.

((((O))))

"And that's when I decided to help them. Without me, they'd still be on a wild goose chase by now," the kitsune boasted.

"I see. That's very noble of you to help them," Kazuhiko complimented him.

"I had about enough of this," Inuyasha stood up and headed to the forest.

"He's always so mean to me," Shippou whimpered as he snuggled in Kazuhiko's shoulder.

"Don't spoil him too much. He'll get used to it," Kagome commented as she watched them.

"He's just a child," Kazuhiko replied calmly.

"That's why he should learn early that the world is a harsh place."

"Kagome," Kazuhiko scolded her, "You're scaring him."

Kagome looked at the kitsune and then the man. She sighed. "The dog-boy was right. This is about as much that I can take." She got off the ground and left.

((((O))))

Later that night, however, a fight between Shippou and Inuyasha erupted again. This time they were feuding over a piece of a cooked meat.

Kagome looked at their way and became uneasy. Kazuhiko wasn't with them right that moment because he had gone to the river to wash their cooking appliances. She was sure that Kazuhiko would want her to interfere, and she would really hate to disappoint him.

The fight became violence, well, on Inuyasha's part, at least. The kitsune was trying to bite him back, but a jerk to his ear made him howl in pain.

Having about enough, Kagome walked over to them and snatched the little kitsune away from Inuyasha's aggression. "Pick somebody your own size, dog-boy." She then turned towards Shippou, "You, follow me."

She led him to an empty field away from their night camp. Without turning her back, she addressed him, "You know how to fight?"

"Yeah," Shippou answered defensively. He didn't know how he should act around her. She tended to be very cold towards him, and despite the fact that he found her very pretty, he decided to behave in the same manner towards her as well.

"Then instead of whining, why didn't you fight back?"

"I didn't whine," Shippou yelled in reply.

Kagome turned towards the little youkai. "Show me how you fight."

"I — I don't have to fight. I'm a kitsune. I have supernatural power," he answered, feeling a bit unsure.

"Then show me this power," Kagome said with a bored look on her face.

He turned himself into a balloon and then popped back into his humanoid form.

"Interesting; if you were suddenly attacked, you just turn into a balloon and announce that it's carnival time."

"What's a carnival?" Shippou asked innocently, the sarcasm lost on him.

"Never mind," Kagome huffed. "What if your enemy managed to get his hands on you before you're able to perform any hocus pocus?"

"Hocus pocus?"

"Magic, kid," Kagome answered with a frown, her patience on a thin string. She really didn't know how to interact with children.

"Then I'll have to make sure that he won't get his hands on me."

"Yeah, but what if — Oh, just forget it." Before she lost her patience for real this time, she decided to show him. Moving beside him in an instant, she lifted him by the neck, his arms and legs flailing about.

"Hey!" Shippou shouted. "Put me down!"

"The moment your enemy had you, he could kill you instantly before you even realized that he already had you." She dropped him to the ground.

"Why are you so mean to me!? You're just like Inuyasha," he yelled as he scrambled to his feet.

"I don't think that the dog-boy would teach you how to fight," Kagome replied calmly.

"You," Shippou started, "You're teaching me how to fight?"

Kagome nodded.

"How did you move so fast?" The kitsune braved himself to question her.

"Genetic, and training."

"What's genetic?"

Kagome sighed. "Let's just start, okay?" Kagome moved into a fighting stance and expected him to follow suit. "So let me see your stance."

She tapped him on the knee. "Any parts of your body that you present to your enemy shouldn't hold any weaknesses. You must hold your ground, but also keep your body agile for evading attacks."

"Keep your eyes focus on the enemy. Read and study his present and next move. Don't let anything distract your focus. Don't let your peripheral vision deceive you, make these side visions work for you, not against you."

"What's —"

"You will ask your questions later after I permit you to do so. Do not ever again interrupt me when I'm speaking to you. And when addressed by your superior, you will only answer with 'Yes, sir' or 'No, sir', is that clear, soldier!?" She commanded him firmly.

Shippou could only look at her with a shocked expression on his little face.

"I said, is that clear, soldier?" Kagome repeated the question softer this time while mouthing, 'Me, superior.'

"Yes, sir," the little kitsune answered obediently.

"Good. Now, let's continue. If you're attacked, what would you do? Should you block it or evade it?"

"Uumh… block it?" And with that Kagome delivered a shutoo (hand sword or karate chop) to his head, slow enough so that Shippou could see it coming. He immediately jumped back.

"And what is your body tells you to do?"

"I didn't mean to evade it," Shippou said quickly.

"No, what I'm trying to say is that your instinct knows better than you. When your physical state — meaning: you're small — disables you to block the weight of an attack, then the best way is to evade it."

"I will teach you an art of self-defense that emphasizes on using mobility to evade attacks," Kagome decided.

"But how will I be able to fight back?"

Kagome lifted her brow.

"I mean if I'm giving permission to ask, Sir?"

"That'll come in time. Now, the most important thing is to survive an attack and eventually retaliate."

((((O))))

"So did you guys get along well?"

"It was okay. He has a lot to learn though." Kagome answered Kazuhiko as she rested her head on his chest.

"After he lost his parents, he was forced to fend on his own until the group took him," Kazuhiko explained as he watched the kitsune sleeping, snuggling on the other side of the broad chest that Kagome wasn't occupying.

"What happened to the demons that killed his parents?" Kagome asked as she looked sadly at the little youkai's sleeping face.

"They got away, I guess. He didn't talk about it."

"That's terrible."

"I know." His gentle eyes turned to Kagome. "You did well today. I'm proud of you."

Kagome smiled as she closed her eyes.

"He reminds me so much of you when you were his age."

"I'm not that whiny," Kagome protested sleepily.

"You're worse. Instead of whining, you cried an awful lot and only stopped when I promised to get you a strawberry milkshake."

Soft deep breathing answered him. Tilting his head to the side, he watched as she joined the kitsune in his deep slumber.

((((O))))

"Are you feeling well enough to continue?" Kazuhiko asked the monk.

After recuperating from the effect of the tranquilizer, the monk nodded weakly. "Yes, your herbal drinks were a great help. I feel very quickly reenergized."

"We should wait for a day or two to continue the travel though. Not that you pass out again," Inuyasha reminded him snidely.

"How was I supposed to know that the blade was corrupted?"

"Well, you shouldn't touch things that don't belong to you, for a start," Kagome objected.

"Again, my apology, Kagome-sama." The monk sighed.

"You know why this idiot was trying to cook?" Inuyasha whispered at Kagome conspiratorially, a grin evident on his mouth.

"Why?" Kagome whispered back.

"Well —"

"Must we dwell on my painful error, Inuyasha? I have realized that I made a mistake and have properly apologized, all around," Miroku interrupted him.

"Yeah, leave him alone, will you, guys? He suffered enough." Sango came to his aid. Kirara settled herself beside her mistress and purred softly. Then she sniffed and her piercing eyes fell upon Kagome.

For once Miroku held his superfluous speech of gratitude and gazed beamingly at the slayer.

"Stop looking at me like that or I'll throw my weapon at you," Sango warned as the look was making her uncomfortable.

"She'd prefer the groping instead?" Kagome whispered disbelievingly to Inuyasha who, in turn, laughed at her question.

"What's wrong with you?" Sango looked at Kirara as the cat demon hissed and growled at Kagome.

Kagome narrowed her eyes at the cat and hissed back. Kirara, taking up the challenge, transformed into a demon form.

"Hey, what's going on!? Sango, tell your cat to cut the crap!" Inuyasha yelled as he watched them both in surprise.

"Tell _her_ to hold it herself. She's the one who's challenging my cat!" Sango replied. "What's the matter with them anyway?"

"Territorial conflict," Kazuhiko answered silently.

"What!?" A stunned look pasted over their faces as they watched Kirara slapped Kagome on the cheek with her big forepaw.

"Kagome!" Shippou cried.

"You stupid cat, what do you think you're doing!?" Inuyasha snarled at the cat demon.

"Stand back," Kazuhiko warned him.

Kagome, who recovered quickly from the attack, jumped back, crouching. She suddenly pounced at Kirara and slapped the cat back on the cheek, making the cat flew to the side from the impact of her slap. The cat squeaked in pain.

When Kirara wasn't moving, Sango immediately rushed to her side, screaming at Kagome, "What did you do to her!?"

"Kagome, you're alright?" Inuyasha and Kazuhiko both simultaneously asked her. The hanyou immediately blushed while Kazuhiko walked over to her and checked her injury. Shippou immediately followed suit and latched himself to Kagome's right leg.

"I'm fine, just a bigger cat than normal," Kagome answered him and then shouted over to Sango, "And the cat's fine, but I suggest you keep her down for a minute or two, so that she know that I've won my part of the territory."

When they all went back to their places, which was around the open bonfire, later after that, the monk immediately brought out the question that he was dying to ask. "So, what's the territory, seeing that we're not in the village?"

"Apparently, him," Kagome pointed at Inuyasha.

"What!?" the hanyou sputtered as his face reddened instantly.

Kagome rolled her eyes at him. "The cat's the one feeling territorial over you, dog-boy, seeing me as a threat to the pack or something."

"So, Kagome-sama, have you been fighting a lot of cats?" Miroku asked with a grin.

"Nothing escapes you, does it?" Kagome commented, referring to her remark to Kazuhiko of the cat being bigger than normal. Apparently the monk had caught it. "Wouldn't you like to know?" Kagome smiled mischievously at him.

"Anyway," Sango broke in, "What are you, a cat youkai or something?"

"Somethin'," Kagome replied cattily.

"Humph." Sango pursed her lips.

"Well, what is that something?" Inuyasha asked, not getting the tension between the two girls.

"Let's just say, a dominant part of me genetically is a cat." ()

A silent pause ensued.

"Genetically?"

"One of your parents is a cat?" Miroku asked her.

"Hell, no," Kagome screeched at him. "Kazuhiko," she whined to her companion.

"How do I start," Kazuhiko began to explain, "You know that the talents, physical features that you possess are what you inherit from both of your parents, even from the parents of your parents?"

They nodded.

"Well, what if you could have all the good things and get rid of the bad? And after we already achieved that, we found that we can even take other traits from other beings outside our line of blood. By isolating and manipulating a small fraction of a cell, we're able to create a being that has a greater strength, speed, reaction, durability than regular humans."

"Not only that, we also have enhanced senses and immune system, accelerated healing capability, eidetic memory, and we look way better than thou 'regulars'," continued Kagome.

Kazuhiko sighed. "Ignore her."

Everyone blinked.

"Then what are you?" Inuyasha asked.

"Transgenic," answered Kagome.

"Were we just talking about the reproduction system?" the monk queried.

"In a way, yes."

"Then why does it sound as if there were no humans involved in order to create babys or, as you prefer to call it, beings?"

"Well to be carried to term, of course —"

"No, you're absolutely right, monk," Kagome interrupted Kazuhiko's explanation. "In the future, copulation would not be needed. In fact, it will become illegal."

"What!?" the monk sputtered. "What kind of bleak future that we have ahead of us!?

Kagome burst out laughing. "Don't worry. I was just joking."

"Transgenic, huh?" Was it only her feeling or had the hanyou just passed her a different look?

"Yeah, you gotta problem with that?" Kagome glared at him challengingly.

"Does every creation come with an attitude problem like yours?" Inuyasha asked grinningly.

Feeling awkward with his sudden amiability, Kagome shrugged.

"So are you saying that, in the future, humans are trying to play god? And you're one of the invention's freaks?" Sango asked her bitingly, the earlier catty dispute not wholly forgotten.

"Yes," Kagome replied smoothly, in contrast to the fire behind her eyes.

"Alright," Miroku suddenly broke in. "Inuyasha, won't you need Sango's help catching us dinner?"

The hanyou was about to contradict him, but Miroku was giving no chance to speak as he turned towards Kagome. "And Kagome-sama, you've done an excellent job training our little friend, Shippou, here. Would you mind showing me some of that move as well?" On the roll, he turned to Kazuhiko. "Were you the one who taught her how to fight, Kazuhiko-sama?"

Only when the hanyou and taijiya disappeared from the camp did Kazuhiko turn to him and smiled. "Nice save, Miroku-sama."

"It's my enhanced radar for certain female emotions, I suppose." Miroku smirked.

(((())))O(((())))O(((())))

() the idea is from Dark Angel (television program) about Kagome and Kazuhiko being transgenic. Though I don't know how far I will incorporate that idea into the story. Maybe I will do a little twist of my own. To all Dark Angel's fan out there, I hope you won't mind.

A/N: Okay, I know by admitting this I would commit the "post hoc, ergo propter hoc" ("after this, therefore because of this") fallacy, but I have to tell you the story of my author's name. First I wanted to use Cocco, but somebody already took it, so I tweaked it a bit and it became Coccio. I used that name without knowing its meaning, that is, until now. I learn from somewhere that it actually means 'shard' in Italian… Fancy that, huh?


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